Like Versus As

Today's topic is "like" versus "as."

By
Mignon Fogarty,
Grammar Girl
September 6, 2013
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Episode #50
Should I write, “It's as if he is the only teacher who understands we have other classes,"
or “It's like he is the only teacher who understands we have other classes”? Believe it or
not, saying "like" can lead you into a raging grammar war..

Like Versus As

The root of this “like versus as” controversy is that traditionally like is
a preposition and as is a conjunction. Nevertheless, people have been usinglike as if it
were a conjunction (as I did) for at least 100 years, and grammarians have been
raging against that use for just as long. In fact, the Harper Dictionary of
Contemporary Usage states that “probably no single question of usage has created
greater controversy in recent years” than the conjunctive use of like.

In 1954, an advertising campaign for Winston cigarettes brought the debate into the
public eye. Winston said their cigarettes tasted good “like a cigarette should,” and
language lovers were outraged because the ad should have said, their cigarettes tasted
good “as a cigarette should.”

What Are Prepositions and Conjunctions?

Let’s quickly review what a preposition is, and what a conjunction is. According to the
book Woe Is I, a preposition is “a word that ‘positions’ or situates words in relation to one
another.” Examples are in, around, and through. A conjunction is, simply, “a connecting
word.” Common conjunctions are and, but, and or (1).

When to Use Like, When to Use As

The proper way to differentiate between like and as is to use like when no verb follows
(2). For example, Squiggly throws like a raccoon or Aardvark acted just like my
brother. Notice that when I use like, the words that come after are generally simple. A
raccoon and my brother are the objects of the preposition.
If the clause that comes next includes a verb, then you should use as. For
example, Squiggly throws as if he were a raccoon or Aardvark acted just as I would
expect my brother to behave. Notice that when I use as, the words that come after tend
to be more complex.

You generally hear like used in everyday speech, so that helps me remember that like is
the simpler word—or at least it is followed by simpler words. As sounds stuffier and is
followed by a more complex clause that contains a verb.

The Like Versus As Controversy

Whether you abide by this rule or not probably depends on how much of a grammar
stickler you are. It's common to hear sentences like this: It's like I'm looking at my
twin. And as a result, many people don't know it's wrong. In one survey, 21 percent of
professional writers and editors said they found such constructions acceptable in casual
speech. On the other hand, only 6 percent thought the construction would be OK in
formal writing (3).

I have to admit that after reading entries in four usage guides (3,4,5,6), I felt a bit brow
beaten about the whole topic. Even as like is becoming more entrenched in everyday use,
professional grammarians are absolutely resolved that this is a trend worth fighting.
Many language experts seem fully prepared to rail against it with all their might, and
some of the comments were quite vicious.

So my advice is don't do it—don't use like as a conjunction, especially in writing, unless

you are ready for the full force of rampaging grammarians to rain down on you (which is
not what I'm generally going for in the advice I give you).

Here are more examples of correct sentences to help you remember the rule:

My cousin looks like Batman.

My neighbor yelled like a banshee.

It's as if my cousin thinks he is Batman.

My neighbor yelled as though he had seen a banshee.

As if Versus As Though
A final note is that there is no discernible difference between as if and as though.
Some sources say that as if is often used for less likely scenarios—my cousin being
Batman—and as though for more likely scenarios—my neighbor is a maniac—but this
isn't a definitive rule.

A quick reminder about my audiobook, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean
Up Your Writing, a one-hour downloadable audiobook covering 24 different topics. You
can buy the book for only $4.95 at iTunes and Audible.com.

References

1. O'Connor, P. Woe Is I: The Grammarphobes Guide to Better English in Plain English.

New York: Riverhead Books, 2003.
2. Lynch, J. The Guide to Grammar and
Style. andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/l.html (accessed April 9, 2007).

3. Morris, W. and Morris, M. Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage. Second

edition. New York: Harper & Rowe, 1985, p. 52.

4. Burchfield, R. W, ed. The New Fowler's Modern English Usage. Third edition. New
York: Oxford, 1996, p. 458.

5. Garner, B.A. Garner's Modern American Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2003, p. 496.

6. "Use and misuse of 'like.'" The Chicago Manual of Style Online, 16th edition. Section
5.181. The University of Chicago
Press. http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch05/ch05_sec181.html?para=(acce
ssed September 2, 2013).

An earlier version of this article originally ran April 13, 2007.